Dongguan furniture industry frequently heard the "closed door" sound factory boss changed the mobile phone number to hide the debt

In the context of the macroeconomic downturn and the downturn in the property market, furniture manufacturers that are closely related to real estate have recently closed down frequently. As a major town in the country's furniture production, small and medium-sized furniture manufacturers in Dongguan, Guangdong Province are also facing difficulties such as sudden drop in domestic sales orders and expansion of losses, and the industry's reshuffle has intensified.

In the hypermarkets where furniture is operated, there has been a decline in passenger traffic and the withdrawal of merchants. Some of the stores in Dongguan have started to engage in sideline business, introducing restaurants, hotels and other formats to seek transformation. However, industry insiders believe that there is a certain risk in this transformation.

Two days after the "missing", Zeng Guangming changed a new number, which made him temporarily escape the phone "bombing" of suppliers and employees. But a lot of unavoidable debts still forced him to burn.

At the end of May, he announced the closure of two furniture factories that had been in Dongguan for more than ten years. Subsequently, on June 1st, a furniture factory in Chashan Town, Dongguan was closed. At least three furniture factories closed in a week.

Zeng Guangming said in an interview with the reporter of "Daily Economic News" that "the employees did not know that they had been insolvent at the end of last year (factory)."

Also not calm is the furniture industry in Foshan. The furniture companies that came from last year’s bleak did not want to wait for a better 2015. “It’s hard last year, it’s harder this year” has become a common feeling in the furniture industry.

The furniture factory with a monthly output value of more than 40 years is insolvent.

On the morning of May 25th, Du Jie, the manager of Dongguan Yujian Furniture Factory (hereinafter referred to as Yujian Furniture), organized staff to open a production meeting for a week to arrange production tasks. In the eyes of Du Jie and other employees, this is just a normal Monday. What I never expected was that after lunch, they received a verbal notice from the village committee: "Your boss said nothing!" At the same time, the Dongguan Guansheng Furniture Factory in Liaobu Town (hereinafter referred to as the crown) Leng furniture), these two factories belong to Zeng Guangming. At this time, the employees of the two factories discovered that the boss Zeng Guangming could not be contacted.

It is reported that Yujian Furniture was established in 2002 and is mainly responsible for domestic sales. Guansheng Furniture was established in 2006 and is mainly responsible for export business. "We have been shipping normally before the 25th, and there are orders. We are still working in the morning. We are told that the boss is running after work at noon." On June 3, many employees staying outside the Yujian Furniture Factory in Dongcheng District, Dongguan. Tell the reporter of the Daily Economic News.

According to several of the factory's Zhonggan, last year, the two factories had a total of more than 18 million yuan of pressure; this year, the two factories still have more than 6 million yuan of goods; two months ago, the company was in Houjie Town The pavement rented by the Expo Park has not been able to afford the rent, and the operation department has also been withdrawn.

Du Jie also told reporters that the furniture industry is worse every year. "Last year we had an output value of 2 million to 3 million yuan a month, and this year's average monthly output of only 1.6 million yuan."

According to Yu Jian furniture staff, including the supplier's arrears, factory rents, water and electricity, and employee salaries, Zeng Guangming owed a total of 18.8 million yuan in debt.

Zeng Guangming also admitted that the monthly output value of the factory this year is 40% lower than last year. "The factory that has been in operation for more than ten years is like my child. No one wants to go to this step today, I can guarantee that I will guarantee it, but I can’t help it. It’s too difficult."

At present, Guansheng Furniture has been sold out at a price of 2 million yuan, and it is a company that makes sports equipment. Zeng Guangming told reporters that Guansheng Furniture was handed over to the village committee, the village committee sold the factory and then liquidated the workers’ wages and rented water and electricity. “I have not taken over a dime.”

Mr. Fan, a staff member of Guansheng Furniture, also confirmed to the reporter that 2 million yuan had paid more than 180 employees of Guansheng Furniture for about 1.3 million yuan, and the rest paid the rent of the factory and the water and electricity fee. It is estimated that the boss has not received any money."

Downturn in economic consumption, Dongguan furniture industry is "more difficult this year"

On June 3, when the reporter came to Guansheng Furniture, the name of the factory had been changed to the name of the new factory the night before, and the workers were carrying out the final removal work. But the employees of the old factory Yujian Furniture have not been so smooth. "Now some people have come to see it, but no one dares to buy it because of the debt problem." When the reporter arrived at Yujian Furniture, Du Jie was still receiving the buyer.

Zeng Guangming told reporters that the old factory is also ready to sell. "There are now 6 million to 7 million yuan in inventory, and I want to clean up the workers' wages first, but I can't get rid of them for a while, and the factory is hard to get rid of."

The storm of Yujian Furniture has not yet been settled. On June 1st, the owner of Dongguan Yalai Te Furniture Factory also lost its connection. Mr. Zhong, the manager of the personnel department of Yaleite, told the reporter that the boss Zhao had a total salary of more than 800,000 yuan. The factory production manager Mr. Tong said that in addition to the employee's salary, the boss still owes the supplier nearly 2 million yuan in payment.

Mr. Zhong said that in fact, not only one of their factories, Dongguan's foundry factory generally has a reduction in orders and low wages this year. "This is related to the big environment of the furniture industry. Dongguan is a gathering place for the furniture industry. Basically, factories have closed down every day. Yesterday, Houjie two closed down, and the day before yesterday, they fell two more. Foshan is more serious, and several families are down every day. "Zeng Guangming told reporters. However, the reporter failed to confirm this statement by Zeng Guangming.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the main business income of China's furniture manufacturing enterprises in 2014 was 718.74 billion yuan, a cumulative year-on-year increase of 10.9%, and the growth rate reached the lowest level in the past five years.

According to data provided by the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Statistics, in 2014, Dongguan's above-scale furniture manufacturing enterprises achieved a main revenue of 22.236 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.34%.

The Dongguan SME Bureau pointed out in the report released in March this year that in 2014, the above-scale furniture manufacturing industry in Dongguan was caught in the dilemma of domestic sales orders plummeting, the expansion of losses, and the stagnant output and sales growth. It is expected that the Dongguan furniture industry will still be under tremendous pressure in 2015.

Downstream store

Passenger flow declines merchants to evacuate home stores to lead the sea to dry "side business"

Upstream furniture manufacturing companies are sad, and downstream sales are also in the doldrums.

Recently, the reporter found that several famous professional home stores in Dongguan City and Houjie Town were deserted. Most merchants said that the traffic volume of stores in this year has dropped significantly, and the pavement is difficult to make profits. Everyone is embarrassed. Many merchants have sold out the signs of clearing goods, and some are ready to change products, a little ready to evacuate the store.

In the context of a cold business in the home market, Dongguan Yingfeng Home Plaza (hereinafter referred to as Yingfeng Home) has started a “sideline business” and introduced food and entertainment formats such as Haidilao, KTV, and tea restaurants.

Passenger traffic declines, some merchants are evacuated

In Dongguan Dongcheng Middle Road, Fantasia Home Furnishing Plaza, Guanghui Home and Yingfeng Home form the most concentrated home business circle in Dongguan. Outside the store, the car was cold and clear, and the store was cold and clear.

Chen Jiao (a pseudonym) is the head of a local brand furniture store in the Fantasia International Home Plaza. Now she is using the mobile phone and watching TV on the Internet to become her main “work” in the store. “Now there are very few people, and the weekend is a little More, but the traffic is really no match."

In the eyes of Chen Jiao, this year's furniture market is "too difficult". According to her, this year her store is in a loss state except for May, "In April, many products simply failed to open a bill. Last year, I thought about holding it, but this year I still didn't get better."

Feng Kunkun, director of the Fantasia Home Furnishings Mall, admitted that since March this year, except for May, the daily passenger flow of Fantasia has actually decreased compared with the same period of the previous year, and the overall sales have dropped significantly. With its intensive promotional activities, Guanghui Home has seen a slight increase in passenger traffic this year compared to the same period last year.

Ms. Chen, a salesperson at the Direct Store of the Emperor Furniture Factory, told the reporter that this year’s business was too difficult to do, and the monthly order volume dropped particularly badly. “We can still protect the capital, and many (shops) can’t keep it.”

Mr. Fu, a salesman at a children's furniture store in Yingfeng Home, also admitted that this year's store sales have dropped by 20% to 30% year-on-year. “Hey, it’s all right.”

A number of merchants told reporters that the property market and the big economic environment are not good. Most of the furniture sold in the mall depends on old customers, or the introduction between different industry alliances. “There are very few new customers coming to the door.”

In the above three stores, the furniture store can be seen everywhere to display the "store upgrade, clear goods" sign. Some of these stores are reloading products, while others are withdrawing.

Li Ting (a pseudonym), a salesperson of a sofa brand store in Yingfeng, told reporters that their store is considering replacing products or withdrawing stores. “Now many (shop) bosses are considering either changing products, such as making a solid wood if the sofa is not good, or not removing the store.”

Due to the geographical location, the stores in the second phase of Yingfeng Home Shopping Mall have all been withdrawn. "We immediately moved away and moved to other malls." The salesperson of the Royal Carpenter Outlet Store, one of the last two furniture stores in the second phase, told reporters.

In fact, the above situation also exists in Guanghui Home. "The brands here are often changed. Most of the contracts will be withdrawn when the contract expires." Miss Chen, the salesperson of the above-mentioned master furniture, told reporters.

Sales are not prosperous, the store is saturated, and some shopping malls are transformed into “side jobs”

The total area of ​​home furnishing stores in China has exceeded 40 million square meters, of which about 50% of the stores are surplus.

A professional home store in Houjie told reporters that in recent years, a large amount of funds have flocked to home stores, and the number of stores has increased. The homogenization competition is fierce. “Only Houjie Town, large and small stores add up. More than 1 million square meters."

The sales are not prosperous and the store is saturated. Some home stores have already taken the step of transformation and run a “side job”. Recently, Yingfeng Home successfully introduced sea fishing.

Yingfeng home related person told reporters that the store signed a contract with Haidilao last year, and the sea fishing pavement is currently being renovated. In addition to Haidilao, it also introduced catering, KTV, cinema, and tea room to Yingfeng. Yingfeng Home opened in 2005 and covers an area of ​​120,000 square meters, about half of which is a home store.

Yingfeng Home has the courage to cross the border, stemming from its predecessors such as high-end restaurants, hotels and other formats. However, the industry holds different views on the cross-border transformation of the home store industry.

Feng Kunkun said that too much span will bring certain risks to the home professional store. "Some shopping malls have introduced different formats in order to increase revenue and passenger flow. It seems that the flow of people has increased. In fact, the essence of home stores has been lost. Furniture dealers are difficult to support and are prone to large-scale empty field phenomena."

Guanghui Home also said that professional stores still have to do professional things, only professional stores can provide consumers with industry-leading cost-effective furniture.

The relevant person in charge of a large store in Houjie also said that it would not consider introducing a cross-border business. In his view, the transformation of the store should consider the supporting environment of the surrounding environment, and there are certain risks in introducing other formats.

trend analysis

The furniture industry is beginning to appear Matthew effect, SMEs will continue to shuffle

In the context of the “sadness” of small and medium-sized furniture companies and the decline in real estate sales, the performance of listed companies in the home market has turned against the trend. The Matthew effect has appeared in the furniture industry, and market share has concentrated on large brands.

Zhu Changling, chairman of the China Furniture Association, told the Daily Economic News that the demand for the furniture industry is still growing, but furniture SMEs are under pressure from labor costs, taxes and environmental protection. In addition to the big environment, insufficient funds, blind expansion, and lack of technology are the reasons for closing the door.

Zhu Changling believes that the concentration of the domestic furniture industry is still not high, and the enterprises whose output value accounts for 1% of the total output value of the whole industry have not yet appeared. The furniture industry will continue to be reshuffled due to factors such as multiple categories, customization and automation of the industry.

Labor costs continue to rise

According to statistics from the Guangdong Furniture Association, in 2014 the province's total furniture sales accounted for about 30% of the country, and Guangdong has become a major province for furniture production and sales. Foshan Shunde and Dongguan are the two major furniture industry centers in Guangdong.

With the economy entering a new normal, since last year, the Pearl River Delta region has frequently reported the closure of furniture factories in Foshan and Dongguan. The situation is still growing this year.

Throughout May, there were problems with many companies. According to the Nanfang Daily, Guangzhou’s 23-year-old Guangzhou Zhuozhu Furniture was declared bankrupt due to blind expansion of its direct-operated stores; Dongguan Yongxin Furniture Manufacturing Co., Ltd., which is known as the “Dongguan Furniture Aircraft Carrier”, encountered difficulties in its operation, the most prosperous period. There are only less than 100 people in Yongxin Furniture, which has more than 1,300 employees.

In Zhu Changling's view, in addition to the macroeconomic and real estate influences, the furniture factory is closed due to environmental protection and taxation.

Zhu Changling told reporters that the government is currently strengthening environmental monitoring for furniture companies. Beijing has clearly stated that it cannot amplify new furniture factories. Shenzhen also stipulates that furniture factories that fail to meet the standards cannot continue to produce.

The furniture industry is a labor-intensive industry. In addition to the above factors, small and medium-sized furniture companies are also suffering from rising labor costs. According to Zhu Changling, the cost of labor in the country's furniture manufacturing enterprises has increased by at least 20% in the past two or three years. "But this is only the data in the industry. I think that the cost of labor also includes labor insurance and insurance."

A personnel manager of a furniture foundry company in Dongguan told the reporter of "Daily Economic News" that "the wages of the furniture industry are not low now. The technical staff will have a monthly salary of four or five thousand yuan, and the average salary of ordinary employees will be 3,000 yuan."

Zhu Changling also said that "the furniture industry is hard work, there are fewer people in the labor shortage, and the furniture factory has to pay high prices."

The performance of listed companies is growing against the trend

This year, the Dongguan SME Bureau investigated more than 30 representative furniture manufacturing enterprises in Dongguan and found that the cost of furniture enterprises has risen too fast. In addition to the continuous increase in labor costs, the standardization of business operations such as social security, environmental protection and enterprise safety production It also brings cost pressure to the company.

Zhu Changling said that small and medium-sized furniture companies blindly expand or play cross-border, for example, to engage in real estate, and do not work hard on production technology, which makes the furniture factory eliminated in the fierce competition.

The Dongguan SME Bureau also pointed out that the manufacturing company's sales channel is single and the quality of the business owner is not high, lacking the sense of transformation and upgrading, is also a problem in the Dongguan furniture factory.

According to the statistics of the China Furniture Association, the furniture product market was relatively weak from January to November last year. Under the new economic normal, the original model that relies solely on scale expansion and relies on low labor costs, low land costs, and low environmental costs is unsustainable.

In stark contrast to the small and medium-sized furniture companies' "sorrowful days", the performance of listed households in the home market is not bad. Companies such as Meike Home (600337, SH), Hao Laike (603898, SH), and Sophia [0.00% Research Report] (002572, SZ) achieved year-on-year growth in revenue and net profit in the first quarter of this year.

Among them, Hao Laike achieved 160 million yuan in revenue in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 21.7%, and net profit increased by 80.1%. In the first quarter, Meike's home business revenue increased by 12.1% year-on-year, and net profit increased by 41.6% year-on-year.

The reporter found that the furniture market is focusing on large brands, and the industry "Matthew effect" is gradually becoming apparent.

Zhu Changling told reporters that domestic demand for furniture is still growing. In his view, the furniture industry will maintain a fragmented market in the next few years due to factors such as numerous product categories, large custom segmentation, and complete automation of manufacturing. However, for small and medium-sized furniture companies that are not well managed, the reshuffle will still be carried out.

For more information on China's furniture industry, please pay attention to the official website of Xianghe Furniture City ().